


Bring It On

by MagpieMorality



Series: Bring It On AU [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Bigotry & Prejudice, Cheerleader!Patton, Cheerleader!Remy, Deceit as Dexter, Gossip Girl!Deceit, Injury, Jock!Remus, Jock!Toby, Judgment, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, cursing, love rivals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:15:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22304002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagpieMorality/pseuds/MagpieMorality
Summary: From a pair of prompts on Tumblr that spiralled quickly into this...Patton is the belle of the school, a cheerleader who fairly and benevolently rules the upper echelons of the student body with bright smiles and the cutest laugh.Remus the football jock is head over heels; for the smile and the laugh and the way Patton looks in his cheer outfit.Dexter the ruler of the campus underworld and gossip mill is head over heels; for the smile and the laugh and the way Patton blushes at him over his cup of tea.They're going to end up head to head in the battle for Patton's affections. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders/Deceit Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders/Deceit Sanders
Series: Bring It On AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1612414
Comments: 36
Kudos: 142





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Unreliable narrators; injury; judging people; internalised polyphobia (character does not consider polyamory to be an option whatsoever); cursing.

Patton Sanders was the prettiest boy in the whole college. Actually if Remus had anything to say about it- the whole town. Maybe the whole _world_ , but he didn’t have enough data on that yet. 

Remus was not the prettiest boy in the school. Or, second prettiest, because Patton’s status was uncontestable. Either way; Remus was barely a contender. He was always covered in bumps and cuts and bruises from fighting; he was steadily adding piercings wherever he could; his nose had long since gone crooked from a previous break; and he hadn’t quite got the hang of hairbrushes. It didn’t help that he was an avid football player, and so was unfortunately often in a state of disarray after practice, even though he was really careful to shower each time, honest! 

They were nearing the end of first semester of junior year, when one morning Remus made the decision that he was going to ask Patton Sanders out. It was a decision prompted only _partially_ by the way Patton was currently floating gracefully down the gymnasium hallway for cheer practice, bestowing godly smiles here, there, and everywhere to grateful mortals. Remus felt his knees go a bit weak. 

He was knocked from his thoughts when someone smacked the back of his head, and he startled to realise that he’d frozen dead in the middle of bounding down the hallway with his friends, roughhousing their way to the changing rooms. “Where’s your head at, Duke?!” Toby cackled, and Remus shoved him away with an eye roll. 

“Nunya, _October_ , get away,” Remus said, still gazing after the pretty cheerleader. His lovesick sigh was far too loud and Toby wasn’t stupid. The look on his face set off warning bells in Remus’s head. “Shit. You saw _nothing_. Nothing!” He smacked Toby on the ass with a whoop and they chased each other off to practice. 

Conveniently, for a certain cheerleader at least, he missed the way Patton turned to look, drawn by the commotion. And more importantly he missed the way Patton’s eyes swept over him quickly, as he bit his lip. 

* * *

Dexter O’Reilly (currently trying to go by ‘Deceit’, but that wasn’t catching on) was a busy young man. He had a double course load this year thanks to a light one in sophomore; a budding mostly-illegal gossip mill business plus bonus popular college secrets blog; and a very troubling crush on Patton Sanders. 

It was troubling for several reasons. Firstly; it was widely known that one of the footballers was harbouring a crush of his own, and that would definitely beat out his own feeble suit in the battle for Patton’s heart. Secondly; Patton was quite vocal about his distate for Dex’s (not that he knew it was his, luckily) secrets blog, citing the unpleasantness it always stirred up as his main reason. And thirdly; Dex was cultivating an aura of cool, calm suaveness. Going repeatedly tongue-tied and red in the presence of Patton Sanders actively worked against that image. 

He had spent Winter break at college this year, so he wouldn’t have to leave his business for too long, and so he could earn some cash on the side to save up for some kind of character defining statement piece. He was thinking gloves, or a cane- something retro and vaguely threatening… 

Everything would have been fine if Patton hadn’t also stayed over break. Because, really, there were only so many times you could accidentally end up having conversations while you were working in the cafe he liked to frequent while he studied, before the crush grew and you started to wonder if you were actually in with a chance. And there were only so many times you could look over at your crush while you were sitting with him on your break (after he offered _and_ bought you a drink) and find him glancing away with a blush and a shy smile, before you started to dream about reaching out and touching his freckled cheek, tugging him a little closer, holding his hand… silly stuff like that. 

Patton did whisk off for Christmas and New Year, but he was back on the first and all too soon classes were resuming and their closeness was in peril. Dex… never quite managed to say anything important, and he hoped he didn’t imagine the slightly sad way Patton had said bye after Dex’s last seasonal shift at the cafe. 

What he hadn’t said was “I hope I see you during the semester”. What he hadn’t said was “I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you and I love you will you marry me”, but honestly to Dex those two statements were equally as unimaginable. 

And then it was back to business as usual. Dex was back to his important business of spreading the truth; Patton was back to being beloved of basically everyone and an untouchable tier one cheerleader; and although Dex didn’t know it and definitely didn’t care- Remus Duke was about to change their lives forever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt for this chapter was this: 
> 
> 1) Cheerleader Patton, could be college or a sports club, and Either bad boy/ on the sports team Remus, or Bad boy/"entrepreneur"/tries to know everything about everyone Deceit. if he has like a full on criminal empire or cheats test or etc it's up to you. If it's okay, I would either have a prompt where they both like Patton or one with Remus and one with Deceit, if that's okay ofc?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Unreliable narrators; injury; judging people; internalised polyphobia (character does not consider polyamory to be an option whatsoever); cursing.

“I just don’t know what to do!” Patton flopped down on his bed, keeping his phone up by his ear and pouting at the ceiling. 

On the other end, his best friend Remy sighed before replying. “Maybe you could just go and do something about the situation instead of always whining to me about your crazy lucky love life?!” he suggested. “Because gurl, you’re lucky! My dry spell has been over a _week_ now and I’m starting to go mad-” 

Patton giggled and tuned out as Remy kept on complaining about his own lack of a dating life, twirling a curl around his finger and chewing on his lip thoughtfully. 

It was a pretty heavenly dilemma to have, really. It was just so gosh darn upsetting that Patton had to solve the whole thing by making a decision, instead of just riding the euphoria forever. 

The dilemma was this: Patton had two potential boyfriends and he was only allowed to choose one. 

On the one hand; Dexter O’Reilly was drop dead gorgeous, and climbing the social ranks fast by essentially just building his own and declaring it lord of them all. He was mysterious and exciting and surprisingly sweet, and he was a total bad boy. Patton’s parents would never approve (the fact their wholesome Mormon beliefs didn’t approve of _most_ of his life choices notwithstanding…) but that just made it all the more exciting. Dex would be the type of guy that turned Patton from Sandy at the beginning of Grease; to Sandy at the end of Grease, and he was sorta tempted by the idea of a change. Being perfect all the time was a bit of a drag after a while. 

On the other hand there was Remus Duke. One of the defensive end’s of the football team, he was big and strong and, well he was a football player. Patton was a cheerleader. It was practically the law. And Remus was always smiling, always living his life loud and proud and defending his ideals no matter what it took. More than once Patton had heard of him getting into a fight because someone had said something rude to one of his friends, which should not have been as hot as Patton had found it, but gosh, loyalty was sexy okay?! Don’t judge him. Remus was not quite as much a bad boy as Dex was, but he filled the criteria nicely enough. 

Patton was completely torn. 

“-babes you’re not even listening to me, you complain about your dynamic duo all the time and you won’t even listen to me bitch about all the boys that don’t want to date me?!” 

“Gosh, sorry Rem. I just- I can’t help myself!” 

There was a moment’s silence before the sound of a cup being sucked nearly dry nearly burst Patton’s eardrum. “Hey, that’s not fair you promised not to do that without warning again!” 

“Babes, deal with it. Now I gotta go get ready for class, but I’ll speak to you soon. And Pat?” 

“Yeah?”

“Sort your head out soon. Rumour on the blog discord has it that Duke isn’t gonna wait for Prom anymore and wants to pop the question by Spring break. If you’re gonna pick him you’ll want to let the other one down gently before that happens, ‘kay?”

“Mm.”

“Okay babes, ciao!” 

“Ciao, Remy,” Patton mumbled, dropping his phone by his head and letting out a loud groan. Easier said than done. Especially when it wasn’t just his head that had high stakes in the matter; his heart was going all in. 

* * *

“Mr Duke, will you please focus?!” Dammit, had he been zoning out again? Fuck. Remus lifted his hand with an apologetic grin, turning back to the experiment his group had running on the counter in front of them. 

“How does she always know?” Toby muttered, eyeing their Chem 3 professor suspiciously. “I was totally covering for you dude, I swear. I know how you get.” 

Remus shot him a grateful smile, swirling the contents of a test tube until the mixture was evenly dispersed. “I know, it’s all cool. She’s just some kind of teaching cryptid, probably. Never doesn’t know every single thing happening in class…” 

“So what was it today? You need to run it off later?” Toby offered once they’d started the bunsen burner and set the timer, sitting back to watch and wait for the reaction. “Bad or good?”

“Oh, kinda… both? No running necessary, bro, thanks, but maybe, maybe some house rules mariokart after practice. It was Patton again.”

Toby winced in sympathy. “Our itty bitty pretty cheerboy has got you bad, Duke. What is this, year two, month three?” 

“Something like that. Do you think I should go back to the plan to wait for prom season? It’s just… that would be easy but then I’m wasting time and I already missed the winter formal chance and now there’s this other guy-”

“Wait what other guy?” Toby asked, leaning forwards to check the timer quickly. “There’s another guy?”

“Yeah, the fancy one. You know the one, he’s got the birthmark all over his face?”

“Huh, I thought you only liked the pretty ones-”

“Hey. We don’t make those jokes, remember? We’re better than that now. And besides, he’s not another guy for _me_ , he’s another guy for _Patton_. They spent loads of time together over Winter break, and he’s like, super weirdly popular or something. Like a mob boss. He probably has way more to offer Patton than I do… Ow!” He glared at his friend, rubbing his shoulder. “What was that for?” 

“For shit talking my best friend. Besides dude, this could be your motivation, right? You need something to get you moving, because shit if you aren’t gonna do it on your own…” 

“Harsh, but fair.”

“So think of it like a competition. You’re good at those.”

Remus blinked, tilting his head. The timer went off before he could reply, so they tabled the conversation. He brought it back up again when they were on the field stretching before practice, eyes straying frequently over to the gym wall where he knew the cheerleaders were inside doing their own practice session. 

“So, about that competition idea… What did you have in mind?” He asked, attempting to be casual and failing. 

Toby grinned. “Alright, here’s the plan.”

* * *

“Here’s the plan,” Dex told himself sternly in the mirror. “You are going to go up to Patton and ask him if he wants to get coffee. You _are_ going to go up to Patton and ask him if he wants to get coffee. Shit, no, he prefers tea…” 

He sighed, walked in a frustrated circle around his room and came back to the mirror, pushing his hair back and starting again. “You are going to go up to Patton and ask him if he wants to get _tea_. With you! You are going to- oh _what is the point?_ ” This whole exercise was useless. It hadn’t worked for the past three weeks- why would it work today? He was going to pass Patton on campus and give him the usual strained smile and mumbled greeting before hurrying on with his day, annoyed and frustrated and disappointed and another day closer to losing Patton to Remus Duke. 

Dex would rather die than let that neanderthal win. 

And based on the information he was gathering on his blog, he was running out of time to ensure that didn’t happen. Today was going to be crucial- if he could break his routine of failure that was… Maybe a new plan would help? He could take Patton’s favourite order with him and offer it to him when he saw him and use that as a conversation starter instead? Now, that sounded more achievable. 

The next morning Dex got up early to detour via the cafe, picking up his own and Patton’s orders and wandering through campus until he caught a flash of blond hair and a musical laugh. It all seemed to be lining up nicely until he caught sight of his rival approaching from the other side of the quad. Fuck no, Remus was _not_ getting there first! 

Dex sped up, noticing Remus notice him and seeing the moment he clocked that this was turning into a race. The footballer’s legs were longer and stronger than his own, but Dex had the headstart, and he made it to Patton just in time to hold out the cup of tea with a hopeful smile and open his mouth to explain his offering, when Remus crashed into him and the two of them went sprawling on the ground. 

The drinks were spilled and Patton shrieked in surprise, trying to help them both up at the same time, and then apparently clocking that it was the _two of them_. He squeaked and went red, recoiling and running away, leaving the two boys to scowl at each other. 

Dex rubbed his hip where he’d fallen and Remus brushed himself, looking very unapologetic. “So, you’re Remus Duke. I’ve heard all about you…”

“Oh yeah? You scared, O’Reilly?” Remus shot back, rolling his eyes. “I don’t need to know shit about you to know I’m gonna be the successful one out of the two of us. I mean it’s the law right- cheerleader plus footballer equals happy ending?” 

“Back off Duke, you wouldn’t know how to treat him right anyway. He’s not a trophy to tick of your perfect life checklist!”

“No _you_ back off- I saw him first! I liked him since freshman year, dude, this is just unfair of you.” 

Dear lord was Remus actually pouting? Dex looked at him scornfully. “Patton isn’t an object. He makes his own decisions. He will pick the better man.”

“Yeah he _will_. And I’m gonna show him that that’s _me_.” Remus said with a proud smirk. Dexter stared at him. “I’ve got a plan,” Remus elaborated cockily, and Dex really wanted to wipe that look off his face, but he had better things to do and a reputation to maintain. And a replacement coffee to buy, if he wanted to get through today’s classes. 

He lifted his chin and pulled his messenger bag higher up his shoulder with a scoff. “Well I look forwards to seeing what a brute like you can produce to woo a delight like Patton. In fact, I welcome the competition. It’ll make _me_ look even better by comparison.”

Remus was back to scowling, and Dex tallied that as a win for himself. “I won’t even interfere, you’re going to fuck it up all by yourself, I’m sure. Just look at you,” he sniffed, looking Remus up and down with judgemental eyes. “You’re a mess, Duke. Bye now.” 

He turned to go, leaving Remus huffing and puffing behind him, speechless with fury. 

Things were off to a good start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter prompt was:
> 
> 2) Another request, if it's okay ofc, Canon or AU both are fine, Deceit and Remus both being interested in Patton and trying to gain his affections and being dramatic rivals. Patton is a bit obvious to it all at first but it ends with him cheerfully saying he likes them both so they both can become his boyfriends, they don't have to fight


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Unreliable narrators; injury; judging people; internalised polyphobia (character does not consider polyamory to be an option whatsoever); cursing.

Two weeks after their dramatic collision, Patton was relieved to note that his beaus didn’t seem to have scared each other off. Quite the opposite in fact; he’d never felt so attended to in his life. 

Remus- whom he had barely spoken to before but had long admired from afar- had come up to him during their last shared gym time, helping him with his circuit training and asking for advice on his stretching regimen. It had been… a lot. They’d been very close together and Remus was really big and strong and slightly sweaty and Patton had maybe used his hands a little more than strictly necessary to show the jock the right way to position himself in a stretch or two. 

Dexter had been equally as suddenly present in his life. After the disaster with the tea, he’d brought Patton a cup of his favourite tea every day, with barely another word about it. In the past day however, he’d taken to giving Patton a kiss on the back of the hand when he said goodbye, flustering the cheerleader with those dark, smouldering eyes of his. Patton had accepted his new life as a tomato with some resignation, as Dex had seemed so pleased by the reaction that he’d returned to his stammering for a while until he’d got himself back under control. Now Patton just had to put up with the most beautiful wicked smirk whenever he flushed at Dex’s romantic overtures, and he was starting to lose his grip on his self control. 

Between the two of them Patton was wound tight as a fishing line, and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on whose shoes you were standing in) it was fishing lines that was just about to cause the whole thing to blow up in their faces… 

* * *

“It’s time to take it to the next level!” Toby crowed, throwing his fists in the air in victory while Remus lounged on his bed and grinned happily. Apparently his latest progress report had been more than satisfactory, because his friend was over the moon. “I mean, that’s basically second base, right? His hand was- and you were- it counts!” The other footballer threw himself into Remus’s desk chair. 

“Yeah, cool and all, but how do we take things up a notch? Like, what’s next dude? I have no idea. And Dex is… _ugh_. So charming? I gotta pull out all the stops bro, he’s gonna be right otherwise. Maybe I am too much of a brute to deserve Pa- Ow! Tobes, dude, what the fuck?!”

Toby just raised an eyebrow, hand up with another baseball cocked and ready to throw like the first. “You know what you did, bro. You _know_.” 

“Fine, I’m sorry. I deserve pretty Patton Sanders and I’m not a brute?” 

The hand came down and Toby nodded in satisfaction. “That will do, Duke, that will do. But watch your mouth. And I don’t know the answer, by the way. Maybe we could ask your brother? He always-”

Remus cut him off quickly. “I’m not asking him for help. Never ever, you hear me? I’ll just… what can we use for help? Like, movies? Google?”

“Dating sites?” Toby suggested, shrugging. “I dunno man, where do people actually get shacked up from these days? It’s worth a try.”

Sure, whatever, it was definitely worth a try. They logged on to some ridiculously wholesome dating site after a very frustrating google search and started to scroll through the accounts (after getting mildly sidetracked by setting up a fake profile for laughs). 

“So, there’s a theme…” 

They looked at each other with wide eyes. 

“Baseball caps-”

“Fish. What?” Remus wrinkled his nose at Toby. “No, not baseball caps. Although also yes, I guess, but I’m not doing that. I don’t need helmet hair _all_ the time. Fish! They’re all holding like, big fuck off fish. Maybe it’s an instinct thing, like- I can provide for you! I’m strong and patient and manly!”

“But you’re a _football player_ , like, that’s strong and manly!” Toby pointed out. 

“Yeah but I never gave Patton anything to eat, bro. Dex always gives him his favourite drink like a fucking prince charming or some shit. Maybe I can cover food!” 

Toby perked up at the explanation. “Yeah! You could go fishing!”

“I could go fishing!”

“And then-”

Remus leaned back on his bed with a triumphant smirk. “Then Patton Sanders will go out with me.”

* * *

It doesn’t go as smoothly as they expect when they dream the plan up in his frat room. Firstly; there are no fishing spots nearby and secondly; it’s an expensive sport apparently, and annoyingly Remus really _doesn’t_ have the patience for it whatsoever. 

After some intense discussion with Toby they’d decided that leaving out the actual fishing part- because Remus has sports covered already- shouldn’t be a problem, and he’ll just have to cover the fish part separately. 

Which is how Remus found himself browsing the fish counter at their local store on a cold, crisp Tuesday morning, choosing what would best convey his devotion and suitability as a provider to the object of his affections. 

After some careful deliberation he chose a nice salmon filet and he was waiting in line to buy it when he spotted Dexter O’Reilly in the other queue, texting someone with a very sappy smile. Remus knew immediately that it must be Patton, and suddenly it felt like he was doomed to fail, because Dex had broken their unspoken rule to only interact with Patton in person, and was _cheating_ and now Remus was behind! 

He nearly stormed over to demand a reckoning but managed to calm himself with the reminder that Dex didn’t have fish to give to Patton, and he _did_ , and that made him the better provider and the stronger choice, physically and metaphorically. 

Dexter didn’t notice him, luckily, so Remus was able to slope away without an altercation, and get to practice on time to give the fish to Patton. 

Which also doesn’t go as smoothly as planned. 

For some reason, upon being presented the plastic wrapped salmon filet, Patton’s first response wasn’t to swoon into Remus’s arms and declare him the ultimate champion of his heart. In fact it wasn’t even the second response. He first stared blankly at Remus for a full ten seconds, and then his mouth started moving silently and he sort of glanced between Remus and the fish helplessly. 

Apparently he should have explained the meaning of the gesture along with just proudly holding a piece of fish out to the cheerleader. Woops. 

“So, I wanted you to know I can provide for you, and I can be- well I _can’t_ really be patient because I got this from the grocery store, not an actual fishing place, but Toby thinks it counts- so I can be a good provider and boyfriend and I’m strong from sport see, so that counts too, and-”

He melted at the shy, soft smile Patton gave him, all pink-cheeked and adorable. “Um, that’s real sweet of you Remus. Maybe I could cook this sometime for… both of us?” 

_JACKPOT_. 

“ _Yes_!” Remus shouted, making Patton jump in surprise at the volume, but the cheerleader waved him off when he quickly apologised. “I mean, yes. That would be… really nice.” He stood there and beamed at Patton, who beamed back. 

A few long seconds went by before they were jolted from their reverie by a passing student. Patton took the salmon filet and Remus lifted a hand to brush his cheerleader’s hair back behind his ears, fingers less than an inch from Patton’s face when he saw Dex over Patton’s shoulder, staring at them. 

And… it was weird, but the expression on O’Reilly’s face wasn’t angry at all, like Remus would’ve expected. It was hurt, and heartbroken, and defeated, and as Remus stood there frozen Dexter dropped his eyes to the floor, looking horribly lost, and then he hurried away, two cups still clutched in his hands. 

Remus felt kinda bad, and he let his hand drop before making contact. Patton tilted his head in confusion but Remus just smiled tightly and hurried away to the changing rooms. 

He had some thinking to do. 

_(Patton had never been more confused in his life)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter prompt was: 
> 
> 3) OKAY THIS IS JUST AN ADD ON TO THE "FIGHTING OVER PATTON'S AFFECTIONS" PROMPT You know how some (like 90% straight) guys have like fish in their profile pictures on dating sites? Imagine Remus being like "I CAN ALSO SHOW PATTON I CAN PROVIDE HIM WITH PROTEIN!" and just giving him fish. To show he can provide for him, very sweet


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: swearing, angst, conflict, fighting over a love interest

“I can’t _believe_ you! After all our hard work you just.. what? Feel bad and give up?!” Toby berated his friend, talking over Remus’s miserable groaning from the couch. “You like this guy! No, you _really_ like him, and you’re just giving up on getting the guy of you _literal dreams_ because Dexter O’Reilly looked a little bit fuckin’ _sad_?!” 

Well, yeah. It wasn’t exactly easy to explain. Remus had tried four different times but Toby had only got more and more irate in the end, and he’d given in. 

His phone buzzed on his chest and Toby huffed. “That’s probably Patton again, wondering why the hell you took off without saying yes to dinner. Bro! Just call him and say you were low on protein or something! Please!” 

“Dude, I can’t just lie to him like that. And I don’t know why I- huh.” 

“What? What is it?” 

“It wasn’t Patton.”

On his phone was a text from an unknown number. All it said was, ‘ _you_ _win_ ’.

* * *

Dexter was keeping his head down in the aftermath of his humiliating defeat at the hands of Jocky McJockface. It wasn’t that he thought Remus had somehow beaten him (although that childish thought persisted unpleasantly) but that Patton had chosen him. Patton, sweet Patton, who’d sat with him while he’d worked for most of Winter break. Who’d laughed with him and smiled at him and been gentle and soft and quiet and kind with him. 

But Patton didn’t _want_ him, and that was what smarted most of all. Because you couldn’t fight that kind of harsh fact. You couldn’t (and shouldn’t try to) change it. 

Admittedly sending that text had been a bad idea, but he was feeling sorry for himself and he’d had a gin and tonic or three so… Why not? Fuck it, basically. 

And yet.

He’d not heard anything since about the two of them dating now. Dex ran the goddamn gossip mill; he’d know instantly once they went steady, but there was nothing. No news, no changes, no updates- nothing. It was, quite frankly, weird. 

There was weirder to come though, when Remus texted back an invitation to meet at an address he knew to be on Greek Row, that night after football practice… 

* * *

  
  
Remus was furtive when he opened the door later on, peering around to see Dexter stood on the doorstop looking very impatient and unimpressed. He stared at him for a moment, clocking the perfectly tailored shirt and slacks combo under Dexter’s wool coat. So different from anything _he’d_ ever wear… 

“Are you going to let me in or do I have to stand here and watch my social cred disappear the more people see me in front of a frat house?” Dex asked archly, and Remus hurriedly let him in, ushering him through the building to his room. 

He locked the door behind them and turned to see Dexter examining the decor with his nose in the air. Remus forced his hackles down again, and sat on the bed, gesturing to the recently cleared chair in the corner he’d pulled out for this meeting. 

“So.”

“So,” Dex replied, tone slightly mocking. Remus sighed. “I assume you didn’t invite me here to gloat?”

If it hadn’t been a genuine question Remus would’ve rolled his eyes. But there was a hint of emotion shaking Dex’s words and he took it seriously instead. “No, not to gloat. Truth is- truth is I felt pretty shitty when I saw you in the corridor. Until then it was sorta… fun. You know, a little healthy competition to heat the blood or whatever. But then, like, bro you looked fuckin’ gutted. That’s not fun anymore. And I get it, ‘cause I could’a been there where you were easy as anything, and you could be the one he was looking at and that would’ve hurt real bad.”

Dexter’s shoulders were high and tense and he refused to look at Remus. 

“So I figured, why do I deserve this and you don’t?”

“Yes _why indeed_?!” Dexter snapped at last, folding his arms tight across his chest and glaring at the jock. “He’s not just a cheerleader for you to have on your arm so you can win prom king, Duke. You don’t get dibs because you’re into _sports_.” 

Well actually, according to his and Toby’s research, that _did_ give Remus an edge… but no, not important right now. Probably not what Dexter meant, either. 

“Hey, that’s not fair. That’s not why I like him at all, okay?” He said instead, with a frown but a calmness that would’ve impressed his parents beyond belief. “It’s _Patton_ , I dunno how anyone could _not_ be in love with him. It’s been almost two years for me, anyway. What about you?” His eyes pleaded with Dexter to get on board with him here and stop being so antagonistic. 

As it happened something Remus had said had already done the trick. 

“… Did you say two _years_?!” Dexter stared at him in shock. “You’ve like Patton Sanders for two years, and you’re… what, _not_ dating him now you have the chance?! Are you really that noble?” 

“Uh, yes? Is that weird? Why is that weird?!”

“Because it is! People aren’t like that! People aren’t nice-”

“I can be nice! Patton is the nicest though.”

“Oh, agreed, he’s super nice.”

“And kind.”

“And clever.”

“And pretty…” They both sighed, lost in thought. 

“God, so pretty,” Dexter agreed in a lovesick sigh. He shook himself back to reality. “But so not the point. What the fuck are you doing here, talking to me, when you could have him? Didn’t he choose you?”

Remus shifted uncomfortably on the bed. “Well uh, I guess? But I mean, he- we didn’t explore every option, really, and- and he only offered to make me dinner, that’s not such a big deal, and- I would feel bad. Patton seemed to like you too- I heard about Winter break- and he seemed so happy whenever you two were together I just felt bad. For both of you.”

Dexter was still staring and Remus upgraded to a full on squirm. “Bro, why are you looking at me like that? What did I do? Should I not have backed off?” 

Dexter was still staring, but his eyes betrayed how fast his mind was working. A slow smile spread over his face and he leaned back more comfortably in the chair, crossing his legs and steepling his fingers together under his chin. 

“Um, Dexter? What’s- what’s that look for dude?”

“Remus Duke, my dear meathead. I have had a _fantastic_ idea. I think you’re going to love it.”

Remus gulped. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: dismissal of polyamory (character doesn’t believe it’s real/feasible), swearing

Patton Sanders was the prettiest boy in the whole college. He wasn’t being vain or anything; there had once been an online poll on the college gossip blog and he’d won hands down. It was just fact at this point. 

He was also currently (in his own internal poll) the saddest. Everything had been going so great (shut up Remy it _had_ ) and then it had taken a turn towards the endgame and then- 

Well, what _had_ happened with Remus? Patton still wasn’t sure, and Remus was ignoring his texts so he had no clues to go on apart from the fact that one minute the boy was giving him some very upmarket salmon filets and pulling off a classing hair-behind-the-ear move that would have possibly even led to a _kiss_ \- and then nothing. Remus had suddenly… changed his mind? He’d freaked out for some reason anyway, and had just run off. 

Since then nothing, nada, total radio silence (yeah so it had only been two days so what Remy shh) and Patton was falling into despair. There had to have been a vital signal he’d missed somewhere that would have turned the whole thing around. 

Maybe the fish was a clue? 

He and Remy had spent a full evening poring over the fish. Was it a secret message? Symbolic in some way? Was there something written on it? Patton had drawn the line at trying to open it up and check the inside because he still very much wanted to save it to cook for Remus some day, so it had been rehomed in the freezer after a careful perusal of storage methods on Google. 

And there was a whole _other_ problem now too- Dex was avoiding him. Over text, on campus, in the cafe; everywhere Patton could think of to try and run into his second paramour turned out to be a bust, and the _only_ way (again, two days was _ages_ Remy don’t be a bitch) he could have avoided even accidentally bumping into Dex for that long was if the other boy was actively staying away. 

Those texts went unanswered too. 

(Remy was starting to lose patience.)

“But I just don’t-”

“Oh my _god_ gurl please don’t finish that sentence!” Patton’s very best friend and emotional support gay snapped, slamming his Starbucks cup down on the table (situated outside the cafe, so they could be seen by as many people as possible, of course). “I literally can _not_ with you.”

Patton’s nose wrinkled. “My tutor Logan says we shouldn’t say literally when it’s not grammatically accurate.” 

“Your tutor Logan can _literally_ suck my dick. No seriously; he’s hot, get me his number and I will consider _literally_ forgiving you.” 

“But-”

“Baby, sugarplum, _Patty-cake_ \- for the love of all things caffeine; just take a chill pill okay? Boys will come and go in your life and if they’re worth anything at all then they’ll be back. Besides, they’re probably just duking it out over you somewhere. Maybe shirtless. Maybe there’s baby oil…” Remy trailed off with unfocused eyes, sipping his drink absently and Patton sighed, because even that nice (very nice, saved for later) image not enough to dispel his melancholy. 

He checked his phone again for the millionth time that day. Spring break was coming up and the cheer squad Whatsapp was going wild with anticipation, but Patton wasn’t in the mood. He’d foolishly hoped that one of his handsome men was going to sweep him off his feet and away to somewhere spectacular for the holiday, but that hope had tanked dramatically in light of recent developments. Normally that would’ve just made him shift his hopes towards prom, but it wasn’t enough of a big deal as it had always been in high school, and it was really more of a friends’ night out situation. Not the sort of time to be expecting big dramatic declarations of love, you know or whatever. 

No, the universe seemed to be spelling out ‘Patton Sanders is going to die alone’ pretty hard, even if Remy wasn’t in agreement. 

“Who are you texting, anyway?” Patton asked, picking at his nail polish with a pout. “Let me at least live vicariously through you until I waste away, a tragic damsel whose beauty was lost to time…" 

Remy looked up, talking around the straw in his mouth. "Je _sus_ you’ve got it bad. And it’s none of your business, P, I’ll tell you when you aren’t moping.” The way Patton visibly and genuinely sagged seemed to revive Remy’s best friend sympathy instincts, because he quickly finished his drink, took Patton by the hands and pulled him up. “Come on cupcake, it’s the weekend and we’re going shopping. Because no matter what happens with your boys- it’s nearly Spring Break and we are gonna look hot to trot!” 

And who was Patton to disagree with such flawless logic? 

* * *

Maybe there was something to be said for the mystical powers of retail therapy, because when Patton flopped down on his bed that evening there was a text notification from a blocked number on his phone that made his heart beat wildly. 

It contained an invitation, to meet the following weekend at a destination that would be sent in a future text, and it was signed ‘from your not-so-secret admirer’. 

The week went by horribly slowly. Even practice seemed to drag, and yet… 

Suddenly Dex was meeting him every day with his tea again, no word of explanation but a soft smirk always hovering around his lips, lighting up his usually serious face. 

Suddenly Remus was watching and winking at him from across the gym- not approaching this time round but offering little shy waves and offering help when he could, putting away the gym equipment or offering a protein bar on the way out just as Patton’s stomach started to rumble. 

Something was up, and Patton’s head was in a spin, but it was oddly perfect. 

Even Remy couldn’t believe the change. 

“You’re totally one hundred percent sure they’re not on drugs?” Patton shot him a look. “Okay just double checking. Joined a cult? Kidnapped by aliens and replaced by pod people? Serial killers planning on luring you in an-”

“God, _Remy_ , no!” He hit his friend with his pillow, laughing at the offended noises Remy made before he joined Patton in giggling on the bed. “No I think they just… sorted something out. It’s weird though, right? Like there’s something weird happening? Not bad weird, but…”

Remy mirrored his shrug. “You’ll have to wait and see what happens with your ‘not so secret admirer’,” he said, singing the name. “Do you have any clue which one of them it is?” 

“Well no. But surely it’s Dex? I mean, he’s Dexter, he can sort out a blocked number. It’s… Remus is a total carebear but he’s not exactly James Bond, you know? It’s got to be Dex. But he’d just out and say it, I know he would, so I don’t- I can’t be sure. Remus _is_ the dramatic one…” Round and round in circles they went but never came any closer to solving the puzzle. 

Friday came and went and at long last it was time to head out for the grand reveal. Remy had helped him get dressed (cute but weather appropriate and with good running shoes, _just_ _in_ _case_ ) and they were waiting in the living room for the address to come through. 

His phone buzzed. 

Once they’d stopped shrieking in excitement they googled and found the address was of the same cafe he’d spent so much time in with Dexter over Winter break, which- it was probably not a good thing that his heart had sunk over ruling out the possibility this was Remus all along, right? It had simultaneously skipped a beat at the confirmation that it was Dex, so… You win some, you lose some he supposed. 

Crunch time. 

He hurried along the streets- glad for the tiny size of their college town and for the lack of rain on the crisp February morning- and slipped into the cafe. Only to see not Dexter O’Reilly sat inside waiting for him, but- 

“ _Remus_?!”

* * *

Let it be known that Remus Duke was not the prettiest boy in the whole college, far from it. Nor was he the most intelligent, nor the richest nor the most popular. However what Remus Duke had in spades was _earnest charm_. It was lethal in a one on one situation, and he made sparing use of it so as not to abuse his power. 

Let it also be known that Dexter O’Reilly was far from immune to said charm, especially when it was turned on him from a few feet across a brightly coloured, messy, but shockingly cosy room in a frat house on Greek Row. If Dexter was the Slytherin here then Remus was almost certainly the Hufflepuff who would drive said Slytherin to world domination. 

In this case, of course, world domination was replaced by Patton Sanders, and the prospect of getting to date him. The concept was the same though, and the intense level of detail required to get the plan exactly right was too. 

In fact, Dex had stayed way later that night than either of them had expected, as they’d plotted and planned and discussed various ways of making their dreams reality. What Remus lacked in book smarts, he made up for with an innate talent for asking exactly the right questions to fix any inefficiencies or problems before they ever arose, and you bet Dex had made a mental note of that for future reference. 

What neither of them had really considered, was the exact reaction Patton would have when he walked in the cafe door on Saturday morning to find not just Remus, but- 

* * *

“ _And_ Dex!” Patton’s eyes were big and round as they switched back and forth and back and forth between the two young men. He clutched his phone in his hand like a lifeline, wondering if this was going to turn out to be the _worst_ day of his life so far, rather than the tentative _best_ he’d pencilled it in as… 

“Hey,” Remus smiled hopefully at him, standing up and awkwardly trying to gesture Patton to his seat like a magician’s glamorous assistant or something. Patton took pity on him and did in fact sit, still mostly set to ????? and !!!!!! and only just managing to process what was happening. 

Opposite him, Dexter crossed one long leg over the other, and Remus perched on the edge of the third chair like he was physically restraining himself from getting up to go be closer to Patton. Which wasn’t entirely untrue, as it happened. 

“Guys, what’s going on?” Patton asked weakly, looking to Dex for guidance, but it was Remus who replied. 

“Well,” he started, twisting his hands around nervously. “We ended up having a bit of a chat, last week. I um, I- oh fuck what was I supposed to say?!” Dexter snorted softly and Remus pouted at him. “You’re no help, we said we’d do this together!” 

You could’ve knocked Patton over with a feather. His mouth actually fell open at the display of camraderie. Suddenly the serial killer theory had merit. 

“Patton. Through a convoluted set of circumstances we ended up discussing our possible futures… with you. It’s fairly clear you’re struggling to choose between the two of us, right?” He waited until Patton nodded slowly. “So we thought… why choose?” 

“My brother Roman told me about this class he took last semester see, about like, changing identities or something. People, basically, and he heard about all these different things they never taught us in school! And one of them was-”

“Wait,” Patton interjected, holding a hand out because he was ninety percent sure he knew where this was going, but- “That’s real? Having… sharing partners is real? It actually works?” 

“Hey how’d you know what I was going to s-”

“Yes, darling, yes to all of that. If the people involved are honest and open and willing to work on it,” Dexter interrupted, smiling at Patton. Remus was also looking at him, nearly bouncing in his seat with excitement, overflowing with energy like always. Gosh Patton loved his energy, his enthusiasm for life, his potential, _ahem_ , stamina… 

He turned back to Dex, only to be filled with warmth at the look he was getting, because he loved the way Dex gave him special smiles he gave no one else. He loved his soft, clever words, and his gentleness. 

_Oh_. 

“Oh.” There was quiet for a moment before the two hopefuls shared a concerned glance. 

“Patton?” Dexter prompted. “Is that… a good ‘oh’ or a bad one? We uh, we know it’s kinda not what you were expecting, probably?”

“And you can take your time to think about it!”

“Thank you Remus, yes. You can take your time, darling. But we would like to try this with you. However you like. And if we want to change things down the road… we can talk about that too.”

Patton was the prettiest boy in the whole college. Seemed like today he was the luckiest, too. “Yes!” He shouted, leaping out of his seat to grab them both in a hug, dragging them together forcefully. “Oh gosh, goodness, _yes_ , that sounds perfect!” He gave them each a kiss on the nearest cheek and sat back down, cheeks red but smile bright, holding his hands out for them to take one each. 

“This is going to be so cool!” Remus crowed, and Dex chuckled softly at his exuberance, squeezing Patton’s fingers, his eyes betraying his own quiet excitement.

_Yeah_ , Patton thought. _It really was_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for following along with this fun weekend jaunt, I have come to adore these boys and they’ve outgrown the little prompt oneshot they were supposed to exist in, constantly yelling at me for more attention until now we’re here. There’s even art on tumblr (fic tagged as #bring it on au), come have a look!!!

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt for this chapter was this: 
> 
> 1) Cheerleader Patton, could be college or a sports club, and Either bad boy/ on the sports team Remus, or Bad boy/"entrepreneur"/tries to know everything about everyone Deceit. if he has like a full on criminal empire or cheats test or etc it's up to you. If it's okay, I would either have a prompt where they both like Patton or one with Remus and one with Deceit, if that's okay ofc?


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